An Uncle's Apology
by SLPikachu
Summary: Dean has a heartfelt talk with his niece, who is still upset about him killing her mother. Aftermath of my other story, "A Sam Winchester Story."


**This is an afterstory from my _A Sam Winchester Story _so you should probably read that first. This is between Dean and Sam's three-year-old daughter, Mary. I do not own the character, Dean Winchester or any _Supernatural _character mentioned. The kids are my own characters, though. Enjoy!**

**An Uncle's Apology**

Dean sat on the edge of the couch, still trying to wake up. His younger brother, Sam and nephew, Jonathan had just left for work and school. He looked out the living room window to see the bus pulling away from the curb and leaving the apartment complex parking lot. Dean looked over at his three-year-old niece, Mary. She was still sitting at the table.

Mary sat, with her arms folded tightly, giving her lap a hard glare. Dean couldn't help but see so much of Sam in her. She looked exactly like he did when he was her age. Mary had the same hair color, same eye color, everything, including expression. She was the spitting image of Sam.

Dean stood up and walked over to the kitchen, going around the counter. He saw that there was extra bacon in the frying pan so he took it. "So, what would you like to do?" he asked his niece, chewing.

Mary ignored him.

Dean sighed. "It's going to be a long day," he told himself under his breath. Dean looked through the top cupboards, looking for some kind of food that didn't involve cooking. There were two boxes of cereal on the bottom shelf. Dean grabbed one, finding Lucky Charms. He stared at it, remembering when him and Sam were kids.

Dean snapped out of his thoughts and started looking for a bowl. He found the dish cupboard but there wasn't a clean bowl left. "Come on, am I gonna have to wash a dish?" he asked no one in particular. He set the box on the counter and dug around in the sink for one. Dean ended up having to wash some dishes so he could get to the ones on the bottom, then once he got there, Dean couldn't stop. He washed them all. "Can you bring me your plate, Mary?" he asked.

Mary slid off her chair and carefully picked up her plate that still had a half-eaten piece of bacon and several pieces of scrambled egg. She carried it over to him. Dean took it, asking if she knew where the trash can was. Mary pointed to under the sink, and he looked. Sure enough, there it was.

Mary stood, watching her uncle. Finally she said, "Daddy usually uses the dishwasher."

Dean stopped mid-wash. He looked at her. "What's a dishwasher?"

Mary pressed the button on the automatic dishwasher with her thumbs she was standing in front of, and very slowly, lowered the door. She pulled out the bottom rack, showing it to Dean. "Daddy cleans the dishes with water, then puts them in here with soap and it makes a loud noise."

Dean could not believe he just spent the last ten minutes, washing every single dish in and around the sink. He put the rest of the dishes, including the pan that Sam had cooked breakfast in into the dishwasher. Dean looked under the sink. "Do you know what your dad uses for the dishwasher, Mary?"

Mary was half lying on the couch, looking at the case of her _Chuck E. Cheese_ Wii game.

"Mary." Dean was standing up straight again.

She continued looking at the game case, ignoring her uncle again.

"Mary Joanne Winchester, you better answer me," Dean told her, getting louder.

Still no response. Dean dried his hands on a dish towel, before walking around the counter over to his niece. He then grabbed her up by her right arm and swatted her backside, hard but not using his whole strength.

Mary let out a yowl, immediately turning on the waterworks.

"Are you gonna answer or should I do it again?" Dean asked of her.

Mary whimpered and nodded.

"Which is it? I don't know what nodding your head means."

"I'll answer," she cried, softly.

"Thank you." Dean let go of her arm. "Do you know what your dad uses for the dishwasher?"

"It's soap that looks like snow, that comes in a ci-reel-o box," Mary answered her uncle, finally.

Dean walked back over to the kitchen. "I don't want it to be like this all day, Mary," he said, walking. "I want us to have fun."

Mary ran back into the bedroom and slammed the door shut. Dean watched her go and sighed. He did not enjoy having to spank his niece, but he just wouldn't tolerate her behavior, and her father already made the threat. Mary knew better.

Dean took the box of dishwasher detergent out from under the sink, reading the back before he poured some into the small compartment of the door, closing it, before he closed the dishwasher. He squatted down, in front of it and tried to figure out what to press. In the end, he just decided to wait until Sam got home from work so he could turn it on. Dean then went down the hall, and knocked on the door, opening it so he could stick his head in.

Mary was hugging her stuffed _My Little Pony _to her, while lying on her father's bed. Dean came in, walking over to sit on the edge of the bed. Their backs were facing each other.

Dean leaned forward on his forearms, staring at the floor for a few moments, before looking back at his niece. "Hey, I'm sorry I had to spank you, all right? You wouldn't answer me and I couldn't tolerate that. I'm pretty sure your father taught you to listen to authority, am I right?" Dean saw her head move up and down. He looked forward, again, staring up at the wall. "Look, I'm still new to the whole kid thing. I'm rarely around kids, you know?" he looked back at Mary, "Doesn't mean I don't love ya."

Mary kept lying on her side, facing away from him. She just listened as she held onto her favorite toy and sucked her thumb.

"I'm also sorry about having to kill your mom. I wish I didn't have to do that," he continued, facing the wall again. Dean looked up and saw a larger picture on the wall, of the same one that's on the bookcase, in the living room. "You all made a beautiful family, and I was so happy to hear your dad had made one of his own."

Mary finally sat up, facing her uncle. "But why?" she asked.

Dean looked at her. "Why, what?" he asked.

"Why did you kill my mommy?"

Dean stared down at the carpet, then back at her, "Your mom had grabbed your dad's gun and was about to shoot him, and possibly you. I'm your dad's big brother, and I always thought it was my job to protect him, so I instantly reacted."

"But Mommy wouldn't do that," she said, a little confused.

"Your mom changed, sweetheart. She beat your brother, black and blue, remember? And didn't she hit you?" asked Dean.

Mary nodded. "She hit me, here," she told him, pointing at her left cheek. "Why did Mommy change?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "She was actually after me."

"Why?"

"I don't know that, either. What I would guess is something I can't tell you until you're older," said Dean. "If there was another way, though, I would have tried to prevent from having to kill your mom."

There was silence for a couple minutes as the little girl took in everything she could. Dean ran his hand down his face, sniffing in air.

"You know, I was about your age when I lost my mom, too," he finally spoke, looking back at her.

Mary asked, "In the fire, right?"

Dean was surprised to hear she knew about the first Mary's death. Sam said he didn't want his kids to know about their past. Dean guessed he just meant the supernatural and hunting part. "Did your dad tell you about your grandmother?"

Mary nodded. "Daddy said you carried him out of the house. I thought you were a superhero, like Superman or Spiderman."

Dean had to laugh at that. "I was only four, and your grandfather told me to. Your dad and I were taught to obey orders, no matter what."

"Daddy says Jon and me have to obey orders, too," she told him.

Dean got onto his left leg, moving his forehead towards hers, "Then why were you ignoring mine?" he grinned, making her laugh. He pulled back, sitting back on his leg.

"You wasn't making an order, you were asking a question," she replied.

"Isn't answering me an order you should always do?" he pointed out.

Mary looked down at her pony. Dean was defiantly seeing Sam in her, more and more.

"Hey," said Dean, "I'm willing to start over and forget the whole thing, if you are."

She looked up again and nodded. Mary got up, onto her hands and knees to crawl over to her uncle, and put her arms around him.

Dean put his arms around her, too. "Does this mean you forgive me for everything?" he asked her.

Mary nodded against him. Dean kissed the top of her head as he held her for as long as she wanted, which was a few minutes. Finally she looked up at him, and asked, "Can you play Chuckecheese with me?"

"Uh, sure, but you will have to teach me how to play," Dean answered.

Mary climbed down from the bed and took her uncle's hand, leading him to the living room and sat on the couch. She already knew how to turn on the TV and what channel it was supposed to be on. Mary turned the Nintendo Wii on from the Wii remote and handed the game case to her uncle. "Daddy says I'm not old enough to put the game in, because I could scratch it," she explained.

Dean opened the game case and took the disc out.

"The picture should be on the left," Mary told her uncle as he took it over to the game system. He put it in and Mary started the game. They played all morning until lunch. Dean made them each a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as they watched cartoons together. Jonathan came home, finding them both passed out, asleep on the couch. Mary was curled up against their uncle, with Dean's left arm around her as he snored.


End file.
